Page end margin indicator for typewriters



Oct. 5, 1954 w, GUNN, JR 2,690,830

PAGE END MARGIN INDICATOR FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed June 6, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.8

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PAGE END MARGIN INDICATOR FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed June 6, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Liam W Gem/v, J;

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Oct. 5, 1954 L. W. GUNN, JR

PAGE END MARGIN INDICATOR FOR TYPEWRITERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 6, 1952 Fig. 5

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Patented Oct. 5, 1954 UNITED rem" OFFICE PAGE END MARGIN INDICATOR FOR TYPEWRITERS 8 Claims.

My invention relates to page end margin indicators for round platen typewriters.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a simply constructed, efficient and accurate page end margin indicator operative by the platen shaft of the typewriter to indicate visibly and signal audibly when a predetermined page end margin has been reached, and by means of an indicator hand revolving less than a complete revolution while the platen and platen shaft revolve more than one revolution to line space a work sheet, and which is presettable easily and quickly from the front of the typewriter according to predetermined page end margin requirements.

Another object is to provide a page end margin indicator for the above purposes which is attachable to standard typewriters and to the platen shaft thereof easily and quickly and is easy to service and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other and subordinate objects, within the purview of my invention, together with the precise nature of my improvements will be readily understood when the succeeding description and claims are read with reference to the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective of my improved indicator in the preferred embodiment thereof attached to the conventional typewriter carriage and to the platen shaft, the indicator hand being shown in normal position and the indicator set for a predetermined page end margin;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary View of the same, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section taken on line 22 of Figure 4;

Figure 3 is a view in horizontal section taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in vertical section;

Figure 5 is an enlarged View partly in vertical section and partly in side elevation illustrating the indicator hand with the cam thereon engaging the gear releasing shaft and moving the same into gear disengaging position;

Figure 6 is a view in horizontal section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 4 showing the gear disengaging shaft in disengaging position and the barrel gear disengaged;

Figure 7 is an enlarged view in bottom plan partly in horizontal section;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary enlarged view in transverse section of the casing, dialing disk, and locking disk and the dial band, and

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation of the dialing disk and illustrating the graduations on the dial band.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals, my improved page end margin indicator comprises a hollow cylindrical gear casing I having a closed side 2 with an axial aperture 3 therein. The casing I is fixed by screws 4 and a lateral bracket 5 or other suitable means on the right hand end of the platen carriage I5 of the typewriter I and coaxially of the shaft 8 of the platen 9. A circumferential slot Ill for a purpose presently explained, is provided in the casing I adjacent the side thereof opposite the side 2 and as shown extends part way around the casing I for substantially three-fourths of the circumference of the casing I, which is to say approximately 270 degrees, with top and bottom ends II, I2 terminating at the back of said casing. The casing I is provided at the side opposite the side 2 with edge teeth I3 spaced equidistantly around the same and the purpose of which will presently appear. A graduation mark I4 is provided on the periphery of the casing I midway between the ends of the slot I0.

A suitable driving shaft I5 for a gear train, presently described, is coupled at one end by a coupling sleeve I6 and set screws I1, I8, or other suitable coupling means, to the right hand end of the platen shaft 8 coaxially therewith for drive thereby and rotatably extends through the aperture 3 in said side 2 and out of the casing I with a platen rotating knob I9 suitably fixed on its other end, for instance, by a hub 20 and set screws 2I in said hub.

An indicator hand 25 extends out of the casing I through the slot I0 sufiiciently to expose its outer end 26 and is suitably fixed substantially radially of the casing I, at its inner end, to one side of a gear wheel 21, said wheel having a hub 28 freely rotatable on the drive shaft I5 for rotation of said wheel to revolve the indicator hand 25 in the slot Ill.

The gear wheel 21 constitutes one of a reduction gear train 30 between the drive shaft I5 and the indicator hand 25 and which is located, as best shown in Figure 3, in the gear casing I between one side of said hand and the side 2. The gear train 30 further comprises a relatively small gear pinion 3| fixed on the drive shaft I5 and meshing with a slightly larger relatively narrower idler gear pinion 32 rotatably mounted in a gear carrying yoke 33, presently described. The idler gear pinion 32 constantly meshes with an elongated relatively smaller barrel gear 34 bridging said pinion 32 and the gear wheel 21 and 3 mounted for tilting in opposite directons to engage and disengage the gear wheel 2'! while constantly meshing with the idler gear pinion 32.

The mounting for the barrel gear 34 comprises a manipulative gear disengaging shaft 36 on which said barrel gear 34 is rotatable and which extends transversely out of the casing with a manipulating knob 37 on its front end and its rear end pivoted as at 38 in the yoke 33 for tilting in opposite directions toward and from the gear wheel 27 to correspondingly tilt said gear 34 into gear engaging and disengaging positions, respectively. Thus the shaft 36 is operated into two opposite positions to render the gear train 30 effective and ineffective respectively. Such operation of the shaft 35 is effected substantially automatically by means presently described, unless manual operation is resorted to.

The gear train 30 under rotation of the drive shaft l5 by the platen shaft 8 through line spacing of the platen 9 is designed to revolve the indicator hand 25 forwardly, counterclockwise as viewed in Figures 1, 2 and 5 and reversely relative to the direction of line spacing rotation of the platen 9 and to indicate in a manner presently described, by the indicator hand, the number of inches of page end margin left on a work sheet, not shown, as said sheet is line spaced.

The yoke 33, gear pinion 32, barrel gear 34 and shaft 36 are located in front of the indicator hand 25 and are settable as a unit circumferentially of the gear 3| to preset the shaft 35 in accordance with a preselected page end margin. Therefore, the idler and barrel gears 32, 34 comprise a transmission gear unit between the gear pinion 3| and the gear wheel 21 settable, as described, by setting of the yoke 33. The indicator hand 25 is provided with a cam 4|] for engaging the shaft 36 in the preselected setting of said shaft to cam said shaft and tilt the same and the barrel gear 34 into gear disengaging position and thereby render the gear train 30 ineffective. The setting yoke 33 and consequently the shaft 36 is set by the means now to be described. A peripherally knurled, annular rotatably settable dialing disk 45 is provided at the side of the casing opposite the side 2 for rotation relative thereto and is provided with an annular flange 45 fitting in said side of the casing and which is secured as by screws 46 to an annular toothed locking disk 41, the teeth 48 of which are adapted to engage between the teeth |3 of the casing Suitable tension means urges said disks toward the casing I to engage the teeth 48 with the teeth l3 and thereby lock said disks against rotation and setting and may take the form of a spring 49 surrounding the hub 20 of the knob l9 between said knob l9 and the dialing disk 45.

The dialing disk 45 and toothed locking disk 41 are movable outwardly of said casing I, as a unit, in opposition to the spring 49 to disengage said teeth 48 and I3 and are then rotatable around the drive shaft I5 with the dialing disk 45 rotatably supported on the hub 20 for setting of said disk 45.

The yoke 33 is fixed to the locking disk 47, as at 50, for rotary setting therewith to be set by the dialing disk 45. The shaft 36 extends out of the casing through a tangential opening 4'! in the locking disk 41 and through a tangential slot 5| in the dialing disk 45 providing for tilting of said shaft 36 in opposite directions. The slot 5| is provided with a lateral outer end notch 53 in which said shaft 36 is adapted to seat in its gear disengaging position to maintain said shaft in that position and the barrel gear 34 disengaged so as to render the gear train 30 ineffective.

Tension means is provided for yieldingly maintaining the gear train 33 effective and revolving the indicator hand 25 backward against the top end H of the slot l0 into normal position. This tension means as shown comprises a flexible, stiff steel spring 50 having one end 62 detached from and coiled around the gear disengaging shaft 36 loosely and its other end 59 fixed, as at 63, to a disk 64 fast on the hub 28 of the gear wheel 27 for winding on said disk 54 when said gear wheel 21 rotates in a direction to revolve the indicator hand 25 forwardly. The spring 60 is pre-stressed to tighten the end coil 52 around the shaft 36 so as to maintain a constant pull on said shaft 36 tending to engage the barrel gear 35 with the gear wheel 21 by pulling said shaft into the inner end of the slot 5| and to effect this operation automatically when the indicator hand 25 engages the top end II of the slot 5|. This operation is facilitated by the spring 60 being pre-stressed and reversely windable on the disk 64 to tension the spring for reaction to rotate said disk for reverse rotation of the gear wheel 27 to revolve the indicator hand back to normal position.

A dial band 65 with a suitable device for 10- cating the shaft 36 is fixed to the disk 45 by screws 6'! and lies on an annular shoulder 68 of the dialing disk 45 to overlie the adjacent side of the casing and be rotated by said disk. The shaft locating device may comprise ears 53 on said band forming an indicator lug 68 radially opposite the shaft 36 to indicate the location of said shaft. The dial band '65 is provided with circumferentially spaced, numbered graduations 69 the numbers increasing in value, in this instance, from zero to 11, as shown in Figure 7, in the direction reverse to the direction of line spacing rotation of the platen 9, which is to say, in the direction opposite to the direction of forward revolution of the indicating hand 25.

A bell 10, or other suitable sound producing device, is suitably fixed in the casing for engagement by a clapper 1| carried by the hub 28 of the gear Wheel 21 and which engages said bell when the indicator hand 25 is revolved back into its normal position.

The graduations 69 are spaced in accordance with the ratio of drive between the drive shaft l5 and the indicator hand 25, and presently described, so that said graduations represent inches and quarter inch fractions thereof.

As shown and described, for illustrative purposes, my improved indicator is constructed and arranged for use with the standard platen of five and one-half inches in circumference and the ratio of drive between the drive shaft l5, which is to say the platen shaft 8, and the indicator hand 25, effected by the gear train 30, is such that the indicator hand may be revolved three-fourths of a revolution by two revolutions of the platen 9. Therefore, the indicator is especially adapted, as shown, for use with a page or work sheet eleven inches long and which is completely line spaced by two revolutions of such a platen.

Referring now to the use and operation of the invention, in presetting the indicator for a page end margin of an eleven inch page not shown, and for a three inch margin, the gear disengaging shaft 36 is tilted in opposition to the spring 60 to corerspondingly tilt the barrel gear 34 into gear disengaging position by moving said shaft into the outer end of the slot 5| and seating the same in the notch 53. With the barrel gear 34 thus disengaged, the spring 6|] reacts around said shaft 36 to coil thereon and exert a pull on the disk 63 thereby rotating said disk 64 in a direction to cause the gear wheel 2'! to revolve the indicator hand into normal position. The disengaging position of the shaft 36 and barrel gear 34 is as shown in Figure 6. The normal position into which the indicator hand is revolved is best shown in Figure 2. As soon as the indicator hand reaches normal position, the clapper sounds the bell 10. As will be seen in this operation, the spring 6|) unwinds off the disk 63. The dialing disk 45 is now pulled outwardly of the casing I to unlock the locking disk 41 and rotatably set to register with the graduation l4, the number on the dialing band 65 corresponding to the length of the sheet minus the desired number of inches of the preselected page end margin after which the gear disengaging shaft 36 is moved into the inner end of the slot 5| into gear engaging position as shown, for instance, in Figures 1, 3 and 7. Now, under line space rotation of the platen 9 to line space the page, the indicator hand is revolved forwardly to engage the cam 40 with the gear disengaging shaft and tilt the same into gear disengaging position, as shown in Figures 5 and 6 which will occur, in a manner which will be clear, when the indicator hand 25 is revolved to the graduation l4 and the graduation on the dialing strip 65 which has been registered with the graduation I4. During this operation, the end 59 of the spring 60 is wound on the disk 64 and the end 62 partly uncoils off the gear disengaging shaft 36. As soon as said shaft 36 is tilted by the cam 46 into gear disengaging position, the end 62 of spring 60 reacts because of rewinding on said shaft 36 to place said spring under suflicient tension to snap the indicator hand 25 back to normal position, as shown in Figure 2 and cause the clapper II to ring the bell l and thus signal audibly that the page end margin has been reached.

When the indicator hand 25 is snapped back to its normal position it is stopped by the top end II of the slot l0 suddenly and this sudden stopping of the spring 60 from unwinding off the disk 64 causes said spring to pull the shaft 36 out of the notch 53 into which it was cammed by the cam 40, and back into the inner end of the slot This causes the tiltable gear 34 to return to its effective position substantially automatically in which it reengages the gear wheel 21 and sets the device substantially automatically, for the next and each succeeding page.

The operation described in the preceding paragraph is facilitated by the sudden jolt when the indicator hand strikes the top end ll of the slot l0 and/or by momentary continuing coiling of the spring 60 around the shaft 36. As soon as the cam 40 disengages the barrel gear 34 from the gear wheel 21, and returns, the spring 60 tends to quickly contract lengthwise because its end 59 is suddenly held firm by the indicator hand 25 striking said end ll of slot l0 and since it can only so contract by pulling the end 62 toward the inner end of the slot 5| it unfailingly pulls the shaft 36 into the inner end of said slot 5|.

As the indicator hand 25 reaches the registered graduations it moves opposite the device for locating the shaft 36, in this instance lug 68, to give a visible indication that said hand has reached the page end margin position. During the spacing of the page or work sheet completely throughout its length, in this instance an eleven inch sheet, the indicator hand 25 registers with numbered graduations successively to indicate the number of inches remaining untyped on the page or sheet.

Of course, the foregoing description and operation pre-supposes that the top edge of the page or work sheet has been started with said edge registered with the usual top edge aligning guide, not shown, on the typewriter. If the page, or work sheet, is rolled in until its top edge is even with the aligning guide, the distance on said page between the point of its engagement with the platen and its engagement with said guide must be added to the margin requirements and the indicator set accordingly. Obviously, the ratio of drive to the indicator hand and the spacing of the graduations 69 may be modified for operation of the indicator with larger or smaller platens and with different lengths of pages or work sheets.

The fractional graduations on the dial hand 65 may be used for presetting the device according to line spacing instead of inches.

The foregoing will, it is believed, suffice to impart a clear understanding of my invention, without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susceptible of modifications, without departing from the inventive concept, and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a typewriter having a carriage and a platen shaft, a page end margin indicator comprising a cylindrical casing fixed to one end of the carriage coaxially of said shaft and provided with a peripheral graduation thereon and a circumferential slot therein having a closed end, an annular circumferentially graduated dialing unit rotatably settable around the axis of said casing to register the graduations thereon with said graduation on the casing selectively in accordance with margin requirements, a driving shaft extending axially through said casing and coupled to said platen shaft for rotation thereby, an indicator hand extending out of said casing and slot and revoluble in opposite directions around the driving shaft into registering position with the registering graduations and into normal position in which said hand impacts said end of the slot, 2. gear train in said casing operative by the driving shaft to revolve said hand into registering position including gears revoluble around said driving shaft for setting in accordance with the setting of said unit, means to mount said gears on said unit for setting thereby with one of said gears tiltable into effective and ineffective positions, means on said hand for tilting said tiltable gear into ineffective position in the registering position of said hand, and spring means automatically to revolve said hand to normal position and responsive to impact of said hand against said end of the slot to automatically tilt said including signalling. means in. said casing operated by return of said hand to normal; position.

3. The combination according to claim. 1, said first-named means including a tiltable shaft carrying said tiltable gear and tilted by engage.- ment of said second-named means therewith.

4. The combination according to claim 1, said spring means tending to normally maintain said tiltable gear. in effective position.

5. The combination according to claim 1, said first-named means including a. yoke fixed to said unit and. having thereon a tiltable shaft rotatably supporting said tiltable gear.

6. The combination. according to claim 1, said second-named means including a. cam on said hand.

7. The combination according to claim. 1,. said first-named means including a tiltable shaft rotatably' supporting said tiltable gear, and said second-named means including a. cam on said hand for tilting said tiltable shaft.

8. The combination according to claim 1, said slot extending partway around said casing, said gear train being constructed and arranged to revolve said hand from end to end of said slot during repeated cycles of rotation of said platen shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 774,346 Yates et a1. Nov. 8, 1904 1,477,048 Fanger Dec. 11, 1923 2,200,201 Fleming May '7, 1940 2,212,463 Thomas Aug. 20, 1940 2,298,590 Rich Oct. 13, 1942 

